This invention relates to a coded label which is stuck to or printed on an object for the purpose of, for example, facilitating selection, and to a code reader for the label.
As a prior-art coded label of this type, there has been known one in which segments are unidimensionally arrayed in the form of a band. With such label, however, the area occupied by the label becomes very large, and it is impossible to read the code by the visual inspection. A further disadvantage is that, in reading the label by a code reader, the decoding and processing is not easy.
There has also been thought out a coded label in which a plurality of code patterns each having segments arrayed in two rows and two columns are arrayed. However, it has not yet led to the drastic solution to the disadvantages stated above. Furthermore, it has the disadvantage that an erroneous decoding for a code is prone to occur due to a stain or flaw.